Posts by ph0b0s

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Afraid so..... MS went to a cumulative model for Win 7 / 8 updates. So you get one 'quality update' a month that includes all new updates and previous ones. The only way not to get those updates is to install the security only cumulative update from the MS catalog. Then you just get security updates not function updates. Does not stop MS from deciding that telemetry updates are needed as part of the security updates as well.

Essentially MS have retroactively made the deciding what updates you want a nightmare....

Re: Hells bells

"Is this a sign that m$ are listening to business complaints instead saying "fu3k you"

Corrected it for you. M$ are still not listening and saying "fu3k you" to non business users. To me this is worse that not listening. It means that they are aware that they have a problem, but only business users get a lifeline.

Windows 10 is really turning into a two tier OS, with how it works for home users and how it works for business users. I know previous versions of Windows had these two tiers, but I don't think it has been to this level before. And before people say that we should be grateful as it was free. Well is is not free anymore and this treatment of home users while asking full OS price is pretty bad.

And yes it would be great to move linux, if it supported all the games I play without having to go through emulator overhead, etc.

Not quite right

"The ruling will no doubt irk some users – such as PC gamers – who have until now opted to run Windows 7 on their new machines and prefer the interface of the older OS over that of Windows 10."

PC gamers already got screwed by Windows 10, at launch, as only it has Directx 12. And yes I know game support is limited, but it won't always be. It has been enough of a driver so that Windows 10 is now the majority OS for PC gamers (source: Steam monthly surveys).

Both of these two practices, plus the retrospective adding of Windows 10 spying and cumulative updates into 7 and 8.1, goes to show how MS works. Instead of making a great product that would draw users in, they first try to give the new OS away for free. And when that does not work they retrospectively bork the old OS. Says it all really....

Re: Microsoft cheque in the post?

Damn. It's the next XBOX, not a Surface and it's going to 4k things up nicely"

"Sadly this is not a new Surface Studio or cloud server: it's the next XBOX, aka “Project Scorpio”.

I disagree, as above, the piece was definitely pushing the idea that the specs of this console are so good they could be confused for the next Surface or a server. No context was given that this is actually comparing apples with oranges when comparing against other platforms. That is not stating facts but being somewhat misleading. Hence my assertion that this came across as a puff piece that feeds perfectly into Microsoft's marketing push for this new console. And I would expect only from a lesser website concerned with keeping Microsoft on side.

User experience / how games will be on the platform was not mentioned in the article and not mentioned by me, so that part of your response is irrelevant.

So again to summarize as people seem to have difficulty understanding my point, probably assuming I am some sort of PS4 fanboi or something. This is going to be the most powerful console when it launches. I have no idea how this will translate into it being a great gaming platform. But trying to make out the hardware specs puts the device on the same performance level as an up coming surface or server platform is market BS and having an article written in such a way on the elreg is very disappointing.

Microsoft cheque in the post?

Wow, for a cynical snarky website, I have never seen such a shill article. The whole thing is written like the next xbox is such an amazing hardware and performance marvel.

Wow, an 8 core CPU. Well the same 8 cores as was in the original Xbox, i.e AMD jaguar cores that were designed for the tablet market, sure probably shrunk and upclocked, but still. Oh the power... If you actually read the sourced article, they are so powerful Microsoft have had to do some funnies to take off them lots of DX12 processing so they don't slow things down too much, using the 'command processor' on the GPU.

The GPU will be good as it will be some form of the AMD Vega chipset. So this will no doubt be the most powerful console out there, due to being the most recent with the latest hardware for the price point. But let's put things into perspective more than this article does. This device will be great for chucking around graphics, but if this hardware was meant for the new surface or a cloud server, it would be hideously under powered for what those are used for. Cool your fanboi jets there....

So disappointing.

On the same day Intel announce their newest architecture, Kaby Lake, they announce their 'high end' CPU line that is now effectively based on two generations older architecture and they expect punters to stump up more cash for the privileged. What a joke, this is what happens when you don't have a decent competitor.

Re: Putting things into perspective

Your book reading example. Is reading a web page and analog to reading a booking in the privacy of your own home or the virtual equivalent of reading a book at a public library.

If you are going to a pr0n website to look at some videos, is that analogous to opening a porn mag in the privacy of your own home or the virtual equivalent of walking to a strip club, where you would be monitored by CCTV along the way.

I know the way I believe it should be treated, but I don't have any great arguments what are the correct analogs above.

Maybe that is the problem. Maybe the internet is not analogous to anything, either being in your home or in the street, or to being itemized like a phone bill. It is it's own thing and there is no analog to how it should be treated... Just my two cents.

Re: Cautiously optimistic

@ smudge.

Not to mention hackers. The plan is that ISP store this data. And ISP's are well known for never letting any data get into the hands of hackers.

So you many not have too much of a problem with the government having access to a database of your browsing habits. How about some hackers who want to share it with your wife, or your boss, etc (sure there are worse scenarios)... If it is stored somewhere, it is going to get hacked.

Re: Statement from GCHQ/NSA

That those same backdoors will be used by hackers to access your system or get your data, is not their problem of course.

Not to mention foreign government who have the same legal requirements of Microsoft. You don't expect Microsoft would make specific back doors for individual to governments access just their citizens computers / data but not citizens of other countries do you?

"They have closely guarded the inner features of their technology, and every release with it brings a wealth of new features for their platforms that requires a legion of people armed with certifications and arcane experience to manage."

As one of the army with the certifications and arcane experience, I don't see this being improved by what is happening here. Even though arcane at least networking skills are portable between companies becuase people use the standard kit and features. If companies start creating their own networking kit with their own unique features, it is going to make the sector even more arcane and it's going to be more difficult to get staff to support it without a lot of internal training first. I do not see that as a positive.

Otherwise competition for companies that have a bit of a monopoly is good.

Re: The missing start button isn't really the problem

@Citizen Kane.

The point is that Desktop users do not want to see Metro, or whatever it is called, full stop.

I have Windows 8 and once you have got classic start menu installed, set it up to go straight to desktop and not to use metro under any circumstances, then it is an OK OS. It is a bit better than Windows 7, but not enough for all the setup that was needed to get it palatable.

If you are a tablet user, then it is a no-brain purchase, but for enterprise users the small improvements are not worth the upgrade, unless there is an under the bonnet Windows 8 feature you just have to have.

Sticking a start button on the taskbar rather than it popping up when you hover your mouse at the bottom left will not change this, especially since it pretty much takes you to the same place.

Microsoft, upgrade the desktop experience and then maybe desktop users will want to upgrade to your new OS, otherwise it is not worth the price and pain of the replacing of Win 7.

Too Late....

Some would say, if you were worried about your privacy, you would not have installed Origin in the first place..... Surprising news, EA's distribution / spyware platform allows you to be spied on.

And before you say it, the EULA did not change from them having the right to gather whatever info they want from your machine, when you decide to use it. And this is not the same as Facebook as you decide what you want to share with the world and as a by product Facebook. Origin, unlike Steam where the surveys are optional, gives you no choice in what is uploaded to EA....

This is how EA has gotten around not being able to sell the info they gather to 3rd parties as in the original EULA. Now they just give 3rd parties a conduit to get the info directly.....

Android Firefox then?

Adblock plugin works with out changes under Firefox's android version. Chrome is always going to have a problem with plugins like adblock and noscripts on the windows and android, as google don't want them to get in the way of their ad's.

Only stats for vendor built PC's

I know it may not be much, but I would like to see stats on the amount of components being shipped / sold as well as just whole vendor build PC's (HP, DELL) sold. I would like to see how much of the PC market is people building them, themselves or purchasing components to upgrade existing PC's. Excluding these details is rather short sighted and does not give the full measure of the 'PC Market'....

Yet Another Anonymous coward

So your argument is to have more of the content available without a warrant so that the innocent will not be caught up with the guilty because in the current climate, people are considered guilty by association. Rather than arguing for more invasive warrantless survalence because innocent until proven guilty as a principle has fallen by the wayside. How about re-affirming that principle instead.

No Content of communication - Not accurate

"Nothing in these proposals will authorize the interception of the content of a communication."

This has been the line though out the lead up to the proposed bill today. It is a statement that stretches things a far amount to say the least. The gov believes that internet surfing history is analogous to phone call history. This is completely untrue.

When you have a record of the number someone has called, you can see the address and company or person it belongs to. You may see that it is a sex chat line and assume the caller discussed things of a sexual nature, but that is it.

With a fully qualified internet address you can see the exact content that user saw. So the web page address is all you need to see the 'content' of the communication. The two are in no way analogous. At most the only thing that should be available without a warrant is numerical IP address of the site visited and that's it.

So no, the idea that these proposals will not expose the content of communications without a warrant is pretty false. Unfortunately since most journalists don't have much technical knowledge, they are unable to challenge MP's on this, when they repeatedly, make these in-accurate assertions.

Report of the blindingly obvious.

Good the report is out there, but it is hardly news. It is the argument most have been making about bring this kind of filtering to ISP's, since the idea was first touted.

I always ask for the filters on all my connections to be removed, not because I want to look at dirty pictures, but because I just want to be able to access the internet, like wiki pages on standard biology etc. Or the web sites of cities like Scunthorpe.....

If any children use my connections, I make sure they have filters in place locally that actually work. It's not rocket science. I wonder if parents will be able to get the government to take over other parts of their parental responsibilities, because doing it themselves is 'a bit tricky'. Maybe David Cameron can come round to peoples houses and make their children go to bed at a decent time.....

Buying an iPhone = Defying the herd????

Has world has been flipped on it's head? Now purchasing an iPhone is considered as 'defying the herd?'.

And 'should you wish to avoid' a 'juggernaut.' Going for an iPhone not going to do that as they are the archetype of 'juggernaut' launches. The fact that Samsung are being able to compete is a good thing....

The TalkTalk system - too high a price....

"ISP TalkTalk has been the one lonely voice in the pro-net-filtering debate, having become the only major telco in Blighty to have implemented network-level anti-malware blockers on its service in May 2011."

Doesn't talktalk's system work by recording all their customers browsing history (even the ones who are not using the filters), so TalkTalk's 'bad content' detector can search through the web pages later and add them to talktalk's filter list, if needed?

That's hardly a good model. Network filters for some customers at the cost of the privacy of all customers. That does not sound like a good bargain to me.

Wait a minute, doesn't the government want to start monitoring browsing history. And the only system that does filtering at the moment, collects that as part of building their filters. That's convenient. Strange both these pieces of legislation are happening close together.....

Re: @Tim

"I agree completely that Android would do well to review it's security (which it is beginning to do, to a small degree, and rather badly alas)..."

Android needs to go through the same security boot camp that Windows XP did with SP1 (or SP2 can't remember now). Where Microsoft delayed development of their next OS in order to get their OS's security house in order.

@Richard

Yes, but that has not been the message from analysis's who have been predicting that Microsoft releasing Windows for tablet means the death of desktops.

Microsoft have believed this, as they have focused on the Metro GUI even on the desktop OS at the expense of the Desktop experience. Since tablets are the future. No tablets are another new useful form factor, not a replacement....

@Tim

When I say locked down I mean how much of a walled garden it is. On desktop, Windows is known for allowing users a fair amount of leeway in it's use as opposed to OSX by comparison. But on ARM you won't have the same leeway with Windows RT, since it will follow the Windows Phone model which sits in between IOS and android for leeway in use.

For example with Android you can install applications outside the of their app store and install new versions of the OS on your old hardware even if not officially supported. This is not the case for IOS and Windows RT.

Of course leeway in use should not be the same as unsecure, which Android may well by guilty of at the moment. If they can follow how Windows has made efforts to secure it's self which still allowing a lot of openness, that would be good.

But bottom line if you want the same openess you enjoy with windows on desktop, on your tablet then windows RT is not the way to go.

You mean free Metro office....

"yes you can get Office on ARM but not on x86/64, but legacy apps run on x86/64 and not on ARM."

Well you get Metro Office on RT, not the full office we are used to. Not sure how much fun doing spreadsheets will be.

And for x86/64 you get more than just legacy apps. You get all the future applications that will not have metro versions. So any power apps or AAA games are unlikely to come to metro and therefore Windows RT.

Essentially with Windows RT, Microsoft are creating a different OS which will not have the guaranteed support it would if it had an x86 emulator. Sure it comes with a cut down version of Office, but that's it. It is even more locked down than android.

So again this is all fine for people who want to use touch while on the go, but still is not a replacement for the desktop and desktop apps.

Pass

Relativity happy customer here.

As an 'L' customer, my connection doubles in speed and more than doubles in STM limits, all for free, with the P2P policy staying the same. I am pretty happy.

I completely understand that those on higher tiers will be legitimately pissed. But it's not bad news all around. Just saying....

Though I wish there was BT infinity in my area, as for the same price I am paying, my father just got a 40 down and 10 up connection (actual speed) vs my 20 down, 2 up. As far as I can tell BT only shapes P2P traffic. They do seem like a better proposition if only they were available in my area.

Re: Still has not got the memo

No one said you couldn't. I have an ASUS transformer with a mouse and keyboard. It is not as productive as my PC with the full desktop apps. That's the point. Since Nvidia tablets will be limited to Metro they will not have access to the full desktop and will not be as productive. You canlt even have more that two windows on screen at the same time with metro.

Still has not got the memo

There is no Windows 8 for ARM. There is Windows On ARM (WOA) which is a separate product and launches at the same time as Windows 8. WOA will only have metro and metro apps. It won't have any access to deskop applications as those are x86 only. So if you need a PC to run desktop apps, you will still need one after WOA and Windows 8 launches. Someone please explain this to Nvidia's CEO.

The most interesting tablet / phone for this would be one with an Intel CPU as they could run native x86 code and therefore Windows 8 desktop apps. Intel already have an x86 CPU smart phone coming to market just running Android, at the moment.

Moved the problem on....

"Hadopi's stats say that 6 per cent of internet subscribers have received a warning – and 95 per cent of those who received only one warning stopped infringing, and received no second warning. Of those receiving a second warning, 92 per cent stopped infringing. Ninety-eight per cent of those who received a third also stopped."

Translation: People receiving a warning installed a software firewall to stop detection (being vague on purpose here as I don't want to suggest methods to stop detection via P2P, but there are ways) or moved to another sharing method. People receiving a second warning finally woke up and did the above. And so on with the higher warnings.

I am very cynical about the claimed successes here. Due to the concentration on P2P, it can look like a success while everyone has moved to other methods or sharing / piracy. Has it stop some piracy, sure. As much as claimed, that is a lot less likely....

The only positive evidence is an uptick in legal music buying, HIGHER than increases in countries that don't have this law.

Becuase UK freedom of speech < US freedom of speech

The UK does not have as much freedom of speech as the US. Those in power may try to say we have full freedom of speech, but in practice, we don't. In the UK we would not have Supreme Court protection for the West Bough Baptist Church holding up their awful signs at soldier funerals.

Some will say this is a good thing and the UK approach is more pragmatic. Myself, I believe that as soon as you start chipping away at freedom of speech, even with your heart in the right place, it gets easier to chip away at it for bad reasons. Or to mis-use the existing laws against speech they were not designed to censure. I envy the US treatment of free speech being sacrosanct even if it causes offence and hurt, like the West bough baptist church. It is a double edged sword and as far as I am concerned, as soon as you started limiting it, you place limits on good speech as well as bad. Any limit does that...

What can you do with it.

As an end user, and not a developer, is there anything out there that currently uses PC Kinect. As in if I brought one what would I use it for? This is going to be the biggest problem at the moment for this, I don't know anything that really supports it.

Also another version so soon after the first was released. That gives you confidence to buy. Why not hold off and see if there is another version in a few months.

Re: Lots of freetards about then...

No, some just have this old fashioned idea that you should be tried and convicted in the country where the alleged crime happened. Rather than having the US policing the world and taking people from around the world to stand trial there. As a precedent it is rather worrying.

This has noting to do with the specific crime, but is due to the precedent setting circumstances of it, i.e there was no crime on US soil, so it is none of their business.

I am sure every day, I do something that is against the law somewhere in the world. Should I be extradited to stand trial in a country where my actions are illegal.

Or if I do break the law in my own country but the CPS does not want to press the case, should I then be extradited to another country, where they have more of an interest in prosecuting.

Why not just out source the whole of our justice system to countries like the US, by extraditing any alleged criminal there. It will save a lot of money in these debt ridden times. Call me old fashioned, but I don't like that idea....

Doubly screwed

If the BBC wanted to do this with a view of reducing the license tax with these extra proceeds, I would support it. My fear is that the license tax will remain and go up and while you have to pay to watch programs you already contributed to the making of through the tax.

As someone who would not miss the loss of access to 'BBC' services I would be happy to pay for just the BBC services I wanted to watch / listen to. Not a fan of 'Sherlock', 'Dr Who' or any other of the amazing programs the BBC make. My problem is I do consume commercial services that are also mean having to pay the BBC tax.

To me you either have one method of funding or the other (tax or pay as you or), not both. Both just means that they get to charge multiple times for the same thing and the first time you had not choice in the matter. You get doubly screwed....

Does not make sense

"For much of its history, the BBC attracted the best talent, groomed it, and focussed it. Sherlock is a rare example of the BBC making TV that's popular and stunning - it concentrates some CERN-like talent on a show. "

If the BBC "attracted the best talent, groomed it, and focussed it.", then examples "of the BBC making TV that's popular and stunning" would not be "rare", but common surely?

The point of one sentence gets contradicted by point of the following one.....

Wrong one to start off with.

Of course in these times of government debt, it is good tax loopholes get closed. My problem with this is the Chancellor is straight away not going for one that Vodafone or any of the big avoiders use, but one 'joe public' are using to get cheaper DVD's, etc. That about says it all.

Should it be closed? Probably. Should it be closed before anything is done about the billions of pounds being lost to the big avoiders elsewhere? I would say no.

Also the idea these big companies shipping from the channel islands are avoiding tax is a fallacy. It is the consumer avoiding the tax. The corporation does not care either way whether their consumers are paying tax or not. The only advantage it gives them is being a bit cheaper than high street stores. They themselves are not avoid tax, we the consumer are.

And of course our mug of a Chancellor, goes straight away before any other loop hole to one that directly encourages consumers to spend. It's good that our economy is doing so well that it can afford to have consumers dis-incentivized to spend as much.

How about closing the loopholes that the likes of Vodafone, etc use first, before this one. Then I will start to believe the 'we are in it together' language. Otherwise it smells of 'we are in to together' for the people least able to contribute more, but if you are a large avoider like Vodafone etc, then continue as you are.....